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As the demand for rental housing rises, more renters are being squeezed financially, according
to a new report by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The report, released last week, found that the percentage of Americans who spend more than 30
percent of their income on housing rose from 38 percent in 2000 to 50 percent last year — a record
high.

The report documents the boom in the American rental market. The portion of American households
that rent rose from 31 percent in 2004 to 35 percent in 2012. In addition, about 3 million homes
switched from owner to rental occupancy from 2007 to 2011, according to the study.

Between 2000 and 2012, median rent prices nationally increased by 6 percent while the median
income of renters dropped by 13 percent, according to the report.

“The gravity of the situation for the large proportion of renters spending so much of their
incomes on housing is plain,” said Eric Belsky, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing
Studies. “We are losing ground rapidly against a chronic problem that forces households to
cut essential spending.”